


Death Grips and Gentle Dips

by glitterburg



Series: We Write Victuuri prompts [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, POV Katsuki Yuuri, Summer of mutual pining, Viktor is a hopeless romantic, a lot of dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 15:30:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13954569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterburg/pseuds/glitterburg
Summary: Viktor sneakily observes whether Yuuri would make just as ideal a partner for pair skating as he likes to imagine.





	Death Grips and Gentle Dips

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [@wewritevictuuri](https://wewritevictuuri.tumblr.com)'s weekly prompt, "I need to say something…"
> 
> I can't thank [savedbythenotepad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/savedbythenotepad) enough for proofreading this for me <3

Having Viktor here is… weird. Almost awkward, as he leans against the wall opposite of the floor to ceiling mirrors and tells Yuuri to ignore him and continue with his routine. Like Viktor isn’t even here. Like he’s invisible.

Like ignoring him is even possible.

There’s just something about practicing in front of people, not just Viktor, that throws Yuuri off every time. His concentration lacks so he stumbles, skips steps, and his movements are never as graceful or elegant as they are when he has the solitude he needs to perform at his best. In the hour they’ve spent here so far, his nervousness doesn’t improve at all.

This kind of thinking isn’t very helpful though, so Yuuri braces himself before he walks to the stereo, just a tad too conscious of how his legs are stiff and how his arms dangle in a weird way. Every step, no matter how careful he tries to be, echoes around the undecorated walls of Minako-sensei’s studio.

He selects another playlist on his phone.

So, what if Viktor wants to watch him dance?

He lives in the room neighboring Yuuri’s, supervises the majority of his training, and analyses his skating so deeply in a way that Yuuri didn’t even think was possible. Dancing is just skating without ice and blades. It shouldn’t be a big deal. After all, Viktor’s only been mostly silently observing throughout the entire session.

Probably that’s why when the music stops, Yuuri startles. He didn't even notice him crossing the room too, but he did, and now they’re both standing next to the stereo.

“Do you mind if I pick another song?” Viktor asks and all Yuuri can do is just shake his head. Nope, Viktor’s welcome to play whatever he wants, although he silently hopes it won’t be something completely out of his comfort zone. They’ve sorted out both Yuuri’s short and long program and Yuuri’s pretty sure Viktor isn't planning on changing either this close to the start of the Grand Prix.

The first song Viktor chooses isn’t unfamiliar, but it doesn’t come from Yuuri’s ballet playlist either.

“Don’t mind the genre,” Viktor tells him, returning to his spot at the wall, leaning back against it and drawing curious eyes on Yuuri. “Improvise, please.”

“Ah?” Yuuri says because that’s about the most complex reply he can muster.

Yuuri is a good dancer, but how does one improvise to ballroom music that needs a dancing partner? Anyhow… it’s Chopin’s Waltz in A minor, a piano melody that Yuuri has a soft spot for, so he lets go of conventions and preconceptions and allows his body to find a rhythm. He isn’t exactly waltzing, of course, because that would require someone to hold in his arms. What he does is best left undescribed, just something quintessentially Yuuri without a category.

He closes his eyes at one point and visualizes the tune, his mind pulling on golden strings that belong to piano keys, creating soft golden waves that fill the space and swirl around Yuuri’s body as he moves with them. They're pulling on him like they'd pull on a marionette figure, guiding him blindly to create something breathtaking.

His heart skips a beat a minute into the piece, then it skips another, creating its very own stuttering music that goes against the softness of Chopin. It can’t be helped. There's a hand closing around Yuuri's and lifting it, another hand slipping to his waist almost in a whisper-like touch, and a body pulling him close with firm certainty. When Yuuri opens his eyes, Viktor’s are only a couple of inches away, depthless and blue like lagoons during the brightest day of summer. He knows what he has to do without having to be told. He places his free hand on Viktor's shoulder.

How is he suddenly waltzing with Viktor? Was this planned from the beginning or is this Viktor’s idea of improvisation?

Or is this a blissful dream Yuuri’s mind is making up for what his life lacks? Or worse yet, what he wants and what he knows is a ridiculous wish?

_I need to say something._

Right, because Yuuri in his dreams is always braver than Yuuri in reality, and if this is a dream then maybe he’ll say something that won’t sound embarrassing once it leaves the safety of his mind.

He falls into a comfortable rhythm on Viktor's side. They're surprisingly… compatible. It's startling, really, how fluidly they move together as if they've got a lifetime’s worth of practice behind their backs. Yuuri’s had a handful of partners in dance classes, but this… this is something entirely out of this world, and he's fairly sure he doesn't only feel this way because he’s following Victor Nikiforov.

“What are you thinking?” Viktor asks in a hushed voice, just as gentle as the muscles organizing his face into the loveliest expression.

As soon as Yuuri focuses on that small detail, his mind blanks out again.

_I need to say something._

“You’re good at this.” Viktor continues talking, probably because he knows how Yuuri’s mind works well enough by now.

That’s finally something Yuuri’s able to respond to, although it’s a response he wishes he could take back right after it escapes him.

“Yeah… Well!” He sounds like a maniac laughing like that. Oh god. He feels the flush climbing his neck and spreading across his cheeks.

“I have an idea," Viktor explains, and he sounds hesitant, something so very unlike him. “But I need to know how good you’re at this exactly, so will you let me dance with you?”

“What’s the idea?” Yuuri asks, because even though it’s a question, he’s still at least saying something.

“Before I explain anything.” Viktor falters for a second again. When Yuuri looks closer, he can see that Viktor isn't nearly as composed as he seemed at first sight. “If I dance like this, do you know how to follow?”

Viktor charges forward in a sashay and Yuuri goes with it, his body tense where it needs to be, but the rest of him is as languid as he can manage while his brain is too busy trying to suppress thoughts like, _his former idol Viktor Nikiforov pulled him closer than necessarily appropriate in ballroom manners and is assessing his dancing skills right now._

"I do," he finally manages to confirm what Viktor already knows.

He's also trying to focus on breathing because breathing makes dancing so much easier. Yuuri may be inexperienced in following people he actually wants to share a dance with, but he recognizes what Viktor wants the moment he makes a decision. There’s no set choreography. Viktor’s the choreographer and Yuuri will follow him to the end of the world.

"You're too tense," Viktor says.

 Another hysteric laughter almost bubbles up Yuuri’s throat where Viktor keeps him dipped.

"I need you to trust me."

The music comes to an end and then starts again; Viktor probably has it on loop. Yuuri lets out the breath that stuck to his throat back when Viktor tilted him back. He realizes he's having a death grip on his shoulder and he slowly eases his muscles, finger by finger.

Viktor does this thing with the arm that’s holding Yuuri under his shoulder blades, lets him fall a bit deeper before he pulls him back into the initial dipping position. He repeats it one more time, clearly testing him.

“ _Yuuuuri_ ,” he says, and Yuuri does a full body scan on himself, checks which of his muscles are still disobeying.

It’s not entirely his fault though. He isn’t used to people pretending he’s weightless as a snowflake, and if Viktor pulls a muscle in his back because of this, Yuuri will never forgive himself.

He takes another deep breath and relaxes his abdomen which in turn helps to relax the muscles in his lower back too. He’s quite sure Viktor wouldn’t appreciate him pulling anything either.

He’s falling back for the third time, and finally, Viktor smiles an approval. When he's being lifted, it's into a standing position. They pick up the rhythm again. They’re turning, then turning in reverse, sashaying, and then spinning. Yuuri knows the training he received from Minako-sensei is far above intermediate level, but Viktor seems to be even more experienced than him. He doesn't know why this revelation comes as a surprise. Most choreographies Viktor's done on ice lay on the base of classical dance styles, something that became his signature and something that isn't very common among the current generation of competitors.

There’s another dip. The content smile slips from Viktor's face, a frown forming on the corners of his lips instead. Viktor holds him firmly.

“Sorry,” Yuuri says as he loosens his grip aroundViktor’s hand.

“Do you believe me when I say I’m not going to drop you?” Viktor asks softly.

“I know you won’t,” Yuuri says.

That's not the problem.

Viktor’s eyebrows shoot high up on his forehead, obviously trying to figure out what Yuuri’s problem is here. Good luck with that, even Yuuri can’t pinpoint what’s happening exactly.

“Let go of my hand,” Viktor instructs and Yuuri does as told, his arm gracefully falling over his head, a perfect extension to the rest of his nearly horizontal body. Viktor seems to contemplate him for a few moments before he finally says, "Alright, how about you lead me instead?"

“You want me to lead _you_?!” Yuuri nearly faints in the dip Viktor still has him in.

"Well, it's not like we've never…" Viktor finally brings him back up again, but falters both in his movement and in his words before he finishes them. "We've done it before."

_When_ , is what Yuuri wants to ask, but doesn’t dare to. He would absolutely, definitely remember if he danced with Viktor, and he's pretty certain this is the first time they’re in Minako-sensei's studio together.

There’s no point dwelling on such minuscule miscommunication issues though. He changes how he holds Viktor’s hand and slips the other one from his shoulder to his waist, not quite believing what’s happening, yet blessing the nerve that struck him to do it.

Viktor’s effortless grace and elegance that have already stunned Yuuri aren't fading at all after the switch. He realizes that this is the first time he’s waltzing with someone who actually matches his level – apart from Minako-sensei, of course. It’s a rejuvenating feeling, really, when he doesn't have to hold back on the behalf of his less experienced partner. He knows he’s smiling and he doesn’t want to wipe it off his face. He’s grateful that Viktor doesn’t comment on it.

Well, Viktor’s smiling too.

Oh god. Is it even just remotely possible that Viktor Nikiforov likes dancing with Katsuki Yuuri?

He moves his hand to only touch the tips of Viktor's fingers to give him a clue, which he picks up, and he’s there completing a turn under Yuuri’s arm before their free hands find their ways back on each other’s shoulder and waist.

He’s eager to dip Viktor exactly the way Viktor dipped him a minute ago, and he mildly wonders if he’ll catch him having similar issues with it, and… nope. His eyes are as bright as ever as he gazes up at Yuuri with his smile still in place. His body is perfectly at Yuuri’s mercy.

Yuuri can’t help the little huff of air finding its way out for the second time.

“Do you think you can lift me?” Viktor asks a while later when they come out of a turn sequence.

Yuuri clues Viktor to let go of his shoulder and step out to the side, then he steps behind him effortlessly and brings an arm around his hips, fingers spreading under his abdomen, lifting Viktor off the floor to complete a circle in the air with his side pressed to Yuuri’s. One of Viktor’s arms is resting around his neck while the other one is extended in the air.

Yuuri returns him gently to the floor, but instead of continuing the dance, Viktor stops there and just looks at him, measuring him like this is the first time he sees him. His eyes are penetrating and Yuuri finds himself clearing his throat, slightly uncomfortable.

“I need a favor," Viktor finally says, and it's such a relief because Yuuri was prepared for another critique.

But what favor can Yuuri, of all people, grant Viktor? He waits patiently while Viktor takes a deep breath before he says another word.

“Will you be my partner?” He asks, a sliver of excitement overtaking whatever worry he has in the end. "I need a partner to complete my choreography."

“I didn’t know you were working on something new,” Yuuri says, smiling. He’s really glad to hear that Viktor didn’t stop finding creative outlets for the ideas that didn’t go into Yuuri’s programs.

"I'm not. Well, not exactly. But I have this choreography that was always meant for a pair. I never completed it the way I wanted to, because I never found the right partner to do it with. Not until recently.”

“Is that me?” Viktor thinks Yuuri would make the right partner? They’ve only been dancing for like, what, fifteen-twenty minutes? How can Viktor already know?

He should doubt him less. Viktor’s an excellent dancer with an even more serious education behind his back than Yuuri, so he knows what he’s talking about.

“Yes,” Viktor says with such confidence that it leaves Yuuri speechless.

Viktor picks up Yuuri’s hand and rests the other one around Yuuri’s waist like that’s where it’ll permanently belong from this moment forward. Yuuri lets him twirl him and turn him and spin him and even dip him, because he’s apparently shocked right down to subconscious level and he can’t tense his muscles involuntarily anymore.

“Wh… Which choreography?” He manages to ask when Viktor leaves a second between two breath-taking maneuvers.

“Stammi Vicino.”

“Aha… hahaha… Seriously?” He’s laughing because the idea is absurd and crazy, and it makes perfect sense if he thinks about it.

Wariness flashes in Viktor’s eyes, only for a second, but long enough for Yuuri to realize it and catch himself, stifle his reaction and take him seriously like he deserves to be taken. This is obviously important to Viktor, maybe much more important than Yuuri can even start to imagine.

“I’d like to help you with that,” he says in the end, scraping the smile off his face.

The relief stretching on Viktor’s face evokes unexplainable feelings in Yuuri.

“But Stammi Vicino isn't a waltz," he adds because he needs a distraction from all those butterflies fluttering in his belly.

"No, not really." Viktor agrees. "But I loosely based it on a waltz, and…" He shrugs before he continues. "Mostly I just wanted to see how well you'd do with a partner in a romantic setting."

Oh.

_Oh._

_This is a romantic setting?!?!_

It is, isn’t it? Oh crap… Is Viktor imagining himself in a romantic setting with Yuuri???

Yuuri's flushing again, he knows he is, he can feel his cheeks burning from within, and Viktor has a premium spot watching it happen, and does he even know what he’s implying placing the two of them into a _romantic setting_??? He has to, or why would he look at Yuuri with such gorgeous, warm, sparkling, ocean blue eyes?

_I need to say something…_ He thinks again, not for the first time in less than half an hour.

“I’ve done some pair skating with Yuuko when we were small." He manages in the end. "For fun." Finally. Something normal.

“That’s what I was hoping for,” Viktor answers him sweetly. “I’d like at least one of us to know what we’re doing.”

Oh. Yuuri’s never fully aware of what he's doing, but he pushes this argument to the back of his mind for now, because Viktor leaves all rules of traditional waltz behind when he tugs on Yuuri’s waist to pull him even closer. He also lets go of his hand and flexes his fingers on the small of his back, and rests his chin on top of Yuuri’s shoulder.

“I want to try,” he manages to say in the end.

“Thank you.”


End file.
